February 19, 2024 • 29 mins
Join us as we strip away the complexity surrounding gut health, with my co-host Justin Gaines, and spotlight the true heroes of your digestive system. Say goodbye to the quick-fix mentality of high-priced supplements and tests, and hello to the unsung virtues of a balanced, whole-foods diet. We're here to cut through the noise and guide you to a realistic, food-first approach that can lead to a more vibrant, energized you.
Ever wondered why your grandmother's sauerkraut might trump a shelf of probiotic pills? We've got the scoop on why fermented foods could be your ticket to a happier gut, unpacking the science behind probiotics and prebiotics in a way that's easy to digest. Our conversation is seasoned with practical tips on food preparation – think of it as culinary alchemy – that can enhance the beneficial impact of your meals on your microbiome. Get ready to transform the way you think about the food on your plate and its journey through your gut.
Finally, we get personal, sharing stories from the trenches of our own gut health battles and the lifestyle changes that made all the difference. From recognizing the stress-diet-inflammation triangle to harnessing the healing powers of bone broth and digestive bitters, we lay out the groundwork for nurturing your gut back to health. We also set the stage for future discussions on herbal wellness, with a sneak peek at natural supplements that could be a game-changer for your well-being. Join us for this gut-centric voyage – your microbiome will thank you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John Proper (00:00):
Welcome to the Balance Blueprints podcast,
where we discuss optimaltechniques for health and
finances and then break it downto create an individualized and
balanced plan.
I'm your host, john Proper,here with my co-host, justin
Gaines.
In this episode, justin and Italk about the popular topic of
gut health.
We go over what functional messand doctors may have wronged
about it and how to tell ifyou're experiencing gut issues
(00:21):
yourself.
Thanks so much for listeningand we hope you enjoy.
So today, a huge topic in thehealth world, I think we're
getting more towards the tailend of it.
It kind of blew up a couple ofyears ago Gut health and
functional medicine.
So functional medicine was thishuge wave of treating people's
(00:41):
problems at the core, so notjust addressing symptoms but the
root cause and I think it hadgreat intentions.
People were really trying toshift of obviously not just do
curative medicine you got asymptom, take this pill.
We want to address the rootcause.
(01:02):
But functional medicine initself.
I think this may aggravate somepeople because everyone loves
it.
They see it as the holy grail.
I think it's almost turned intoconventional medicine, but
we're just using supplements andwe're using tons of tests, and
so I think we're almost.
Everything kind of keepsshifting and I want them to get
back to it.
(01:22):
But the point, the reason Ibring up this, is they really
put gut health on the map, whichis huge and it's awesome.
So we have a lot to talk aboutthere.
Justin Gaines (01:32):
Yeah, no, I definitely, I definitely get
what you're talking about there.
Even like the biohackingcommunity and a lot of that
stuff has turned into.
Here's a, here's a mushroomcomplex pill and here's a.
You know, here's a multivitamin, but it's got all these special
components to it and all thesethings that aren't normally in a
multivitamin and, yes,definitely become the magic
bullet.
Take this pill, it'll solveyour problems.
John Proper (01:55):
Right and like it's improvement.
You know it's.
We're looking for root causes,we're looking at lifestyle, so
it's definitely improvement fromthe conventional, but at the
same time, we don't want tospend all of our money on lab
tests and supplements either.
You know it's.
It's like let's use the sameideology but try and go about it
(02:15):
a little different.
And and gut health is one ofthose topics that I think we can
look at a little differently.
That's they forget sometimesand it's always shifting, so I
think it's moving in thisdirection.
The second brain, basically, iswhat a lot of these people in
the space call it and, to breakit down, even you know simpler,
when people say well, what theheck are you talking about?
(02:36):
Gut health?
Our bodies are covered inbacteria, viruses Other bugs too
, can't think of them but ourbody, from our skin to our oral
microbiome, so it's called themicrobiome, our gut microbiome.
There's concentrations andspots in our body that have very
large amounts, and the gut isone of the ones that has, you
(02:57):
know, the biggest impact on ourbody, so that there's little
bacteria kind of in our stomachrunning the show and telling us
signals.
Justin Gaines (03:04):
Yeah, it's always fun to talk about that and be
reminded of it, just because youdon't want to think about
yourself as being covered inbacteria and bugs and parasites
and all this stuff.
That's weird.
That's what makes the world goaround right Like it takes.
It takes all of these things inorder for it to balance out and
work properly, but we don'twant to think about it because
(03:25):
it sounds like you're dirty,even though it's not necessary.
John Proper (03:29):
I know, I think one of my yeah, one of my classes
in college.
My teacher said I gottaremember, but I think it's five.
My teacher said if you got ridof all the bacteria on your body
in and outside, you'd be fivepounds lighter or something.
Yeah, because there's morebacteria cells than human cells,
I think, on in the human.
(03:51):
So it's, it's an insane amount.
That's wow.
Yeah, that's, that's hard towrap your head around.
I know, because that's why it'slike obviously we're human.
But it's funny because peoplebring up the question well, are
we really, are we human, or arewe because without them we
wouldn't survive?
You know, we need these littleguys and we'll get into why and
what they do and stuff.
Justin, just did a little look.
(04:12):
That's what it was probablywhen I was in class, but they've
updated it.
So I think they said you cancorrect me, but you said it's
that's what they did, say it wasone to 3% of body weight, but
now it's 0.3%.
Justin Gaines (04:26):
Correct.
Yes, used to be one to 3%, nowit's 0.3%, about 0.3%.
John Proper (04:32):
But either way.
So we were looking at that andJustin calculated it for 180
pound individual.
It was still what a half apound of bacteria?
Justin Gaines (04:39):
A little over half a pound of bacteria, which
is still pretty significant.
I mean you talk about bacteria.
I mean that's, that'ssignificant.
John Proper (04:47):
I know, when you talk you can't even see that.
You know what I mean.
So you can't even see them.
And you have a half a pound ofthem.
Justin Gaines (04:54):
Well, I'm just thinking of like you take those
probiotics.
You know active live probioticsand you have those little
tablets.
They're tiny and they weigh,you know, less than a gram.
A gram and you're talking abouthalf a pound.
I mean, that's that'ssignificant, that's that's a lot
.
John Proper (05:14):
Yeah.
So, needless to say, theselittle bacteria, these bugs they
call them, are very importantand it is crazy, crazy to think
about.
And Justin, you actuallybrought up a good thing earlier
too that it kind of gives youlike the he heavies the thing
about, like yeah, you're coveredin that bacteria head to toe.
And I think that's a greatsegue of because what I was
(05:35):
talking about earlier a lot ofpeople in the health space or
functional medicine space reallyreally focus on like the gut is
the controller.
But I've seen more data andkind of newer research showing
that the environment might be abigger control.
So, like, what I mean by thatis, I guess this isn't really
(05:56):
the functional medicine space,but you'll see so many things
pushed for like sterileenvironments Like we live in.
You know really sterile houses.
Antibacterial soap,antibacterial wipes, lice all
kills 99.9% bacteria.
You know all this crazy stuffthat I'll get into it, but you
kind of laugh at that stuff whenI've seen some of this other
(06:18):
research.
In some ways, these other peoplelive like out in nature because
you're doing a real disserviceand a real harm To your body and
the bacteria on your body,because these guys protect you.
Like, don't get me wrong.
You can get an Inbalance ofbacteria.
We want the right balances, theones that help us.
But sometimes thoseantibacterial products actually
(06:40):
kill the good ones and thencreate and it's almost like they
cleared out a house.
Now you have an empty house andthe bad ones can almost come in
easier.
You know so those good ones,you want them there because then
there's less space for the badones to come in.
They can fight off the bad ones.
So it's just funny because,yeah, I think, especially in the
Western world, we're so used tolike bacteria is terrible and I
(07:02):
box, we need them like oh,clean your hands, clean
everything, clean.
Justin Gaines (07:06):
I mean especially marketing messages to get
pushed to sell products.
John Proper (07:09):
Yeah, exactly, and it's.
It sounds great, because whowants to be dirty?
But it's not like these guysare dirty.
But playing in the soil dirtyou know, is actually probably
way better than right, and thatso well it's crazy is like
growing up on a farm.
Justin Gaines (07:22):
We I mean we hardly ever, we being, you know,
fellow farmers or also, justyou know, family members hardly
ever got sick.
But then you'd go to school andyou know people would be going
through their normal cycles oflike hacking off along in the
Middle of the winter and allthis sort of stuff of just you
know, your normal normalsickness windows.
And If I got sick once a yearit was like crazy and like this.
(07:47):
We always used to say it's likeoh, we're outdoors, we're
constantly.
You know, we're constantly outthere doing stuff and you know
when you're working on a farmand you have a burger for lunch,
you know you're not going towash your hands Typically
brushing them off on your pantsand and just eating it.
So you're definitely getting alot more bacteria into your
system by doing that.
(08:07):
It's interesting that now theresearch is coming out and
suggesting that that potentiallyhas a large impact on your,
your body as a whole, not justyour immune system, but your
body as a whole.
John Proper (08:18):
Yeah, yeah, and so I guess so I can get specific
into it.
So there's a one there, oneresearcher, who does got health
and We'll have to go into it alot more in another episode, but
the general you knowinformation about his research
is he followed tribes in Africa,a couple different ones.
He lived with them for monthsand Some of the stuff when you
(08:40):
watch it is insane that likethey're doing, like you know
their food, their dinner tableis the ground.
They wash their hand in thesame water that monkeys pooped
in and they drink from thatwater and you know they're
eating a lot of like what didthey when they freshly kill an
animal?
Some of the stuff was wild, soit's crazy people here, but I
(09:01):
think they'll eat the intestinewhere some of the feces was and
things that obviously I'm notnot saying go do this.
It's, it's insane.
But we would also get sick.
Actually that's an importantthing because we weren't born
into that environment.
We don't have that microbiome.
They have, but they have one ofthe best quote-unquote on paper
(09:21):
microbiomes because of thesheer, sheer variety and amount
of bacteria they come in Contactwith and that's actually what
protects them.
So and something that mightnormally make us sick and that's
why I think it's even crazierto note like you don't want to
eat undercooked raw meat.
(09:43):
24 setter.
You know, if you eat a piece ofundercooked meat by accident,
you should be fine.
But I think that's one of thethings where in today's Western
world, where we don't have a lotof diverse microbiomes, diverse
bacteria, things like oh,undercooked meat once really
hurt us because we don't havethe built-up nice bacteria that
(10:04):
actually protect us from that.
And undercooked meat, just asimple example.
There's a million I'm notpromoting that are talking about
it in any way, but that'ssomething they did and you see
them being protected because oftheir environment, the amount of
animals they come in contactwith.
They actually showed that thedrinking water, I think, was the
area where they picked up themost bacteria because other
(10:24):
animals came to drink from it.
So bacteria from the animalswent in the water and they put
it's like a whole sharingenvironment.
So you only get that by beingoutside.
So I think the newer researchis showing being in nature and
being outside and exposed tomore areas there's actually
what's really causing a muchstronger, more resilient
microbiome than you know some ofsome of what's previously
(10:45):
thought.
We'll go into what's previouslythought too Of, because those
are the easy things to do day today.
Justin Gaines (10:51):
Right right.
John Proper (10:52):
Well.
Justin Gaines (10:52):
I'm sanitizing the counters, constantly wiping
everything down.
John Proper (10:56):
Yeah.
Justin Gaines (10:56):
Yeah, which not to say that you shouldn't do
that, but it's just saying ittoo much of anything is a bad
thing.
John Proper (11:02):
Definitely, definitely.
So that's just a little bit ofwhy I think there's some missing
pieces in the microbiome talkand If you're interested in it,
you can look more into that.
But I think environment, yourlight, plays a bigger role in it
.
Like getting natural sunlight alot more than previously
thought.
But we'll go into like thebasics here too of okay, you
(11:23):
know you're new to this, what's,what's it mean to me?
So, like we talked to pull itinto, like back to the holistic
nutrition piece.
Justin Gaines (11:30):
I mean, I know I kind of briefly brought it up,
but Are you suggesting thattaking a probiotic or a
prebiotic is Better than doingnothing, or should you just be
other foods in your diet thatyou can do that?
I know yogurt typically has avery high ability to populate
that biome.
You know what are some waysthat, because we live in this
(11:51):
hyper sanitized world, that wecan adjust this and start to
bring back that microbiome?
Yeah, yeah great question.
John Proper (11:57):
Great question, starting with probiotics.
So I'm always going to do afood first approach, no matter
what, and we've gone over maybewe haven't, we'll probably do an
episode on this Supplements Ilike to use them as tools, as
supplements, what their nameimplies, but really you should
(12:18):
be getting everything from food.
Now.
Probiotics, though, from theresearch I've seen, are really
one of the last ones I wouldprobably take.
So I would really start withfood first approach.
Just because there's very fewprobiotics on the market that
(12:40):
actually get the probiotics inthe pill to the spot they need
to go.
They either get destroyed inthe stomach acid because they're
not encapsulated in a properpill and they end up kind of
just being an expensive, youknow, waste of money versus
starting with food first.
Or, like we talked about nature.
So going outside, kind ofplaying in the dirt, that's a
(13:00):
good one.
But then foods would be, youknow, anything fermented.
Yogurt is a great one, that'syogurt and kefir.
Those usually are the ones thathave great effects on people,
help build the gut.
Sauerkraut that's just the mostcommon, but really they ferment
any vegetables, any type ofcabbage, carrots.
You can find those in storespretty easy.
(13:22):
Kombucha is another, you knowvery kind of trendy one but that
does have tons of probiotics init.
Fermented tea what else are wethinking here?
I think those are the main onesthat really come from the store
and you know all those aredoing like you said.
You said pro and prebiotics.
(13:44):
The probiotics are really justputting the bugs already in the
food into your stomach, but theprebiotics are like more food
for them.
So starchy foods, they say oneof the best prebiotics and these
can give people problems.
We'll go into that like itgives you bloating.
But if you're in a good state,good prebiotics are like you
cook potatoes, you cool them.
It's kind of a weird thing, butyou cook, cool them and then
(14:05):
reheat them later.
It actually builds resistancestarch in foods.
So that actually gives it moreof a resistance starch is more
food for your bacteria than itis for you.
So when you cool the food, itbuilds it.
I think green bananas have alot to like plantains, but yeah,
those are more prebiotic foodsthat feed the gut bacteria.
Justin Gaines (14:26):
I never want to thought that cooking a food,
cooling it and then reheating itwould have a you know, is that
weird impact on it.
You know, it's like you hearabout food, you cook it and that
could destroy the nutrients.
You don't ever hear about food.
You cook it, cool it and thenreheat it and that actually does
something else to it.
John Proper (14:43):
I know it goes on topic of our last episode, where
we're talking about plantresamble foods, like cooking
spinach and adding othernutrients to it, like it
actually helps them, and it's soweird.
I mean I don't even know howsomeone finds that out of.
They test potatoes right afterthey cook and they test potatoes
cool in the fridge for a week.
But yeah, it builds thoseresistance starch that feeds
(15:03):
your microbiome.
The other thing that'simportant to note is, I think a
lot of functional mess andpractitioners or people in the
space will also just say okay,we have gut problems.
Let's throw in this probioticNow.
The problem there, and I'lleven lump them together.
Let's throw in this probioticpill or foods that have
probiotics in them.
(15:24):
The problem with that?
You can't have good bacteriagrowing in your gut if your gut
is in inflamed, stressful state.
If you throw new beneficialthings at it like probiotics,
probiotic foods, it may help alittle, but if you have bad bugs
in there or viruses or otherthings, it's not going to do a
(15:46):
lot.
It's kind of like using asprinkler if your house is on
fire.
It's going to do something, butyou really need to fix the
environment of your gut beforeyou start introducing these
beneficial foods, and that'skind of where we can get into
things you need to take away orheal.
Justin Gaines (16:01):
I was going to say go down that path.
What?
John Proper (16:04):
does that?
Justin Gaines (16:05):
look like, because I've always thought yeah
, when I've been feeling off,irregular or whatever, I'll take
a probiotic and a probiotic asa typically it's a pro and a
free in the same capsule, sametime.
I'm definitely guilty of beingthat.
You know this as being thatsupplement guy who's more than
happy to take a supplement andtake that easy road out.
(16:27):
But that's interesting.
So you're saying that if you'refeeling that way, you feel like
you have a gut issue, that's notthe most effective way to do it
, so what would be?
What should I be doing instead?
John Proper (16:40):
Yeah, and I'll differentiate two people here
because I'm talking fromexperience of I had a very
inflamed gut where as soon as Iate a meal, like two bites in
very bloated, two serious gutproblems versus someone that may
, like you said, you feel off.
So I think this is helpful forboth people.
(17:01):
But for someone in my situationor anyone feeling extreme gut
discomfort and just to goquickly over that tons of
bloating you shouldn't be superbloated after eating, bloating
after certain foods garlic,onions, vegetables, stomach pain
, irregular bathroom schedule,things like that versus just
(17:21):
someone off.
So this is a lot more importantfor that.
But what it looks like is a lotof things can throw off our gut
we talked about earlier.
I said it's the second brain,first biggest one in my opinion
I think the one that getsprobably overlooked stress.
So the vagus nerve is a nervethat literally connects from
(17:42):
your gut to your brain.
Signals go both ways.
It's not a one-way street.
So if you're stressed in thehead sounds funny to say, but if
you're having mental stress, ittalks to the gut and it creates
inflammation in the gut andthen you may hear this term a
lot leaky gut.
Leaky gut is just when there'slittle micro tears and things
(18:06):
get into your system thatshouldn't.
So I know we're going off on alot of tangents, but just to say
the leaky gut that's just yourgut has a lining.
When you eat food it reallydoesn't actually ever enter your
body.
Technically there's a barrierthat allows certain nutrients in
and keeps other things out.
But when you have leaky gutthere's little tears in it, that
kind of let things in thatshouldn't.
(18:26):
And that's when a lot of peoplehave problems.
So mental stress can do that.
A poor diet, standard Americandiet, a lot of bad junk food, a
lot of sugar, and so what wewant to do to get back on topic
is we want to build a stronger,healthier environment for these
(18:47):
bacteria to live in.
So we want to get rid of junkfood, we want to help our stress
levels, we want to get sunshine, we want to go outside, we want
to get adequate sleep, thenormal things, that kind of cure
everything, because they'rehard to do, but they're not
complicated things, they're justhard to do consistently.
(19:09):
So those things, we want toprioritize those, and then we
really want to cut out foodsthat might be irritating.
So we went over a little bit ofthis last time.
But certain vegetables, ifpeople have SIBO, if they have
other gut issues, whether it'sbacteria or virus or fungal
(19:29):
infections.
We want to cut out foods thatare giving problems.
It's only going to be temporary.
But if you eat onions and theybloat you and you hear well,
onions and garlic, they're thehealthiest food for me in the
world and you keep forcing them.
They're not at the momentbecause they're fermenting in
your gut and causing problems.
So you want to cut out thosefoods.
So be conscious of when you eat.
(19:50):
How does my gut feel?
And then we want to incorporatethings like bone broth.
So bone broth is, I think, thesimplest healer.
That is described to me thatwhen you drink bone broth, the
glycine in it, the amino acid,kind of coats the stomach.
That's what the gut lining ismade out of, so it kind of
(20:11):
repairs it.
And if you drink real bonebroth it's sticky, liquidy, so
that's going to help.
Collagen Digestive bitters arekind of an aid.
So if you acidic things likevinegars, if you eat those with
certain vegetables and foods, so, yeah, what I'm hearing there
is stress management all the wayaround.
Justin Gaines (20:31):
So, mental stress , sleep stress.
Make sure you're on a goodsleep pattern.
Food, you know?
Do an elimination diet, thingsthat are bothering you.
John Proper (20:39):
Don't consume those for now, even if they are
superfood.
Justin Gaines (20:43):
They're really good for you on paper right now.
If they're bothering you, stayaway from them until you can
slowly start to introduce themback in.
But the one thing that I guessI get caught up on is so you say
eliminate junk food.
But like what do you mean bythat?
Do you mean high carb foods?
Do you mean you know bad fats?
Are you talking like emptycalories?
Like what when?
John Proper (21:03):
you say junk food.
Justin Gaines (21:04):
I feel like it's a relative term, right?
So?
There's you know, if you'reconstantly eating McDonald's,
you know some TV dinners mightnot be as junky as constantly
eating McDonald's.
John Proper (21:18):
You're like there's a slagger.
Justin Gaines (21:19):
there's this junk food here, so, like, what
should be pulling at?
Well, what is when you say junkfood, what are you thinking of?
What are you picturing in yourmind, and what should we be
staying away from?
Like, give me three or fourthat like we should just
definitely not be consuming ifwe're trying to refill our gut.
John Proper (21:35):
Yeah, these days I think of junk food as anything
made in a lab which sounds crazybut like if it wasn't made
outside it's junk food.
So but to kind of really narrowit down, number one would be
any packaged really high sugaryfood Like that's going to harm
the gut and that's going to feedbad bacteria.
You know I don't like to sayall sugars bad.
(21:58):
A lot of people do that.
I eat plenty of carbs, but theprocessed sugar that comes from
zebra cakes, fudge brownies,anything in a box out, like if
you want to heal, get rid of it.
Number two would be probablyfoods that cause inflammation.
So, like inflammatory oils, Iwould just try and opt for
(22:19):
better oils.
We know the seed oils areusually what cause problems for
people canola, rapeseed,safflower, all that.
So just make the easy switch toan olive oil.
And actually something that Ireally like to push that helps
me is coconut oil is a great oilif you're having gut problems,
(22:40):
because it's obviously a healthyoil to eat but it has
antibacterial and antiviralproperties.
So it's good to consume thatbecause it helps the gut.
Justin Gaines (22:48):
So that's kind of an easy thing If you're having
gut problems, like, just usethat oil, because it's kind of a
double whammy, and being thatit's antibacterial, that's not
going to kill the good bacteriaor it's not going to work,
because, obviously, when we'vealready talked about how there's
good and bad, doesantibacterial mean anti all
bacteria or does it just somehowwork really well with the good
bacteria and eliminate the bad?
John Proper (23:10):
Right, so we'll have to look into it more by.
Imagine it's the type ofbacteria, just like how sugar
feeds certain bacteria.
Like sugar is known to feed thebad bacteria in your gut.
I imagine the coconut oil isknown to not create a great
environment for those badbacteria Because obviously all
bacteria are different.
(23:31):
There's different strands.
You'll see that in probiotics.
So I imagine that that oilaffects the bacteria.
Justin Gaines (23:37):
It'll probably work similar to like our saliva,
because our saliva isantibacterial as well.
John Proper (23:40):
Right.
Justin Gaines (23:41):
You have that disgusting feeling in your mouth
when you wake up, and that'sbecause you haven't been
producing saliva, becauseotherwise you choke on it.
Obviously, your saliva is notthe bacteria in your stomach
either, so it's got to beantibacterial in that capacity,
but for a sake of time.
One other question to drive ushome, I think, is obviously I
(24:01):
brought up the fact that whenI'm feeling it regular, we've
talked in our personal livesabout we know when we're feeling
it regular.
I've heard that acne on yourback is one of the ways that you
can tell.
John Proper (24:14):
But what are?
Justin Gaines (24:14):
other ways that people can self-identify if
they've never thought about itor haven't gone down this health
pass of like oh, my gutactually doesn't feel well,
because for some people and evenmyself, before I went down
heavily down the health pass, Ididn't realize how bad my gut
felt because that was normal.
So what are some key indicatorsor leading indicators of
(24:38):
improper gut balance and justfeeling?
It off, or how do you know thatyou're off?
John Proper (24:45):
Yeah, yeah, that's a good one because they can be a
little sneakier.
So we'll start with the one youbrought up.
There's like we talked aboutthe microbiome in our gut.
There's a microbiome on ourskin, so our skin's covered in
bacteria.
If we have an imbalance of thewrong bacteria on our skin,
that's going to cause issues andthis can be looked up.
(25:05):
There's like Chinese medicine.
There's charts that show wherebacteria on the body means,
maybe where the problem is inthe body.
Not saying that's foolproof,but it's usually pretty accurate
and you'll see that bacteriausually like on the chin, is
SIBO related, so smallintestinal bacteria, overgrowth
(25:27):
Bacteria.
In other areas will be yeastrelated, so like yeast and
overgrowth or yeast infections.
So that's kind of a cool way tosee if I'm having a lot of acne
.
I don't think you just hit theunlucky lottery, or it's genetic
or it's this.
There's something off that thegut is causing problems.
(25:51):
Your bacteria on your body isnot proper Tons of acne.
That's the first one.
Definitely you can look upagain Chinese medicine acne
diagram.
Justin Gaines (26:02):
I'm going to look that up because I'm thinking of
the acupressure foot massage, aThai foot massage where they
know different pressure pointsin your foot.
I'm thinking they probably have.
Based on what you're saying, itsounds like it's something
similar to that.
John Proper (26:16):
Very, very.
The Chinese medicine is prettyspot on with a lot of things.
It's awesome that's a goodchart to see different spots in
the face, on the back, on thebody, acne being a big one of my
bacteria, my microbiomes.
They're off on my skin and mygut, in my mouth.
It's not usually just off inone spot because everything is
(26:38):
connected.
That being one, then there's alot of sneaky ones.
Like you said, brain fog is abig one.
A lot of people don't realizeI'm feeling cloudy, I'm not able
to focus.
Well.
We talked about the guts of thesecond brain.
If you're eating junk food, ifyou're stressed, if your gut's
inflamed, your brain's going tobe inflamed.
You're going to feel it Brainfog.
(26:58):
Another big thing is if yoursystem's moving really well, if
you're dialed in, your bowelmovement really should be in the
morning time.
Usually your body detoxifies atnight, does a lot of those
things.
You get rid of a lot of that inthe morning.
Now it depends on a lot ofpeople's eating schedule too If
(27:19):
they eat at different times.
If someone eats really onlylate into the night, it might
throw it off If you're eating.
If you're a normal human beingeating three meals a day.
Generally, we can make it evensimpler.
You should be going to thebathroom around the same time
each day.
That's important.
Justin Gaines (27:37):
Consistency, consistency there, those signs,
I think those are the big onesthat I had the back knee, the
brain fog.
The brain fog was a big one.
I've done some stuff I know wetalked about when I did that
diatomaceous earth gut cleansethat I felt like we tried
researching it.
There's hardly any scientificresearch that suggests that it
(28:03):
would work.
It's very small sample sizes.
It's not something that youneed to really hang your hat on.
One I had huge that first day Itook way too much.
In that I remember telling youthat I took way too much.
John Proper (28:20):
I was so bloated, everything that I read that when
I was going into.
Justin Gaines (28:24):
It was that that's diol.
It's not bacterial, it wasviral.
No, it was saying that therewas parasite, parasitic diol,
parasitic diol, increase in thenitrogen in your bloodstream and
all this stuff that would causeyou to bloat like that.
I didn't think it was going towork.
I was like, oh, I can take themaximum amount that they say to
take.
Oh my gosh, I didn't sleep thatfirst night and the second
(28:46):
night into the first week, mybrain fog was completely lifted
Again.
I didn't realize that I evenhad the brain fog.
I thought I was dioled in mostof the time.
Then when it was gone, it wascrazy, absolutely.
John Proper (29:00):
Right, you don't realize how bad you feel until
you feel good.
This whole episode was a superbrief overview because, like you
said, that supplement, there'soil of oregano, there's tons of
herbs We'll go into, I'm sure,in future episodes, exact
protocols and a lot easier waysof like okay, you have this
issue, this is how we can tackleit.
(29:21):
There's actually way more thanI thought we'd have.
We'll have a lot more to gointo, for sure.
Thanks for listening to ourpodcast.
Justin Gaines (29:29):
We hope this helps you on your balance
freedom journey.
John Proper (29:31):
Please share your thoughts in the comments section
below.
Until next time, stay balanced.
Welcome to the Balance Blueprints podcast,
where we discuss optimaltechniques for health and
finances and then break it downto create an individualized and
balanced plan.
I'm your host, john Proper,here with my co-host, justin
Gaines.
In this episode, justin and Italk about the popular topic of
gut health.
We go over what functional messand doctors may have wronged
about it and how to tell ifyou're experiencing gut issues
(00:21):
yourself.
Thanks so much for listeningand we hope you enjoy.
So today, a huge topic in thehealth world, I think we're
getting more towards the tailend of it.
It kind of blew up a couple ofyears ago Gut health and
functional medicine.
So functional medicine was thishuge wave of treating people's
(00:41):
problems at the core, so notjust addressing symptoms but the
root cause and I think it hadgreat intentions.
People were really trying toshift of obviously not just do
curative medicine you got asymptom, take this pill.
We want to address the rootcause.
(01:02):
But functional medicine initself.
I think this may aggravate somepeople because everyone loves
it.
They see it as the holy grail.
I think it's almost turned intoconventional medicine, but
we're just using supplements andwe're using tons of tests, and
so I think we're almost.
Everything kind of keepsshifting and I want them to get
back to it.
(01:22):
But the point, the reason Ibring up this, is they really
put gut health on the map, whichis huge and it's awesome.
So we have a lot to talk aboutthere.
Justin Gaines (01:32):
Yeah, no, I definitely, I definitely get
what you're talking about there.
Even like the biohackingcommunity and a lot of that
stuff has turned into.
Here's a, here's a mushroomcomplex pill and here's a.
You know, here's a multivitamin, but it's got all these special
components to it and all thesethings that aren't normally in a
multivitamin and, yes,definitely become the magic
bullet.
Take this pill, it'll solveyour problems.
John Proper (01:55):
Right and like it's improvement.
You know it's.
We're looking for root causes,we're looking at lifestyle, so
it's definitely improvement fromthe conventional, but at the
same time, we don't want tospend all of our money on lab
tests and supplements either.
You know it's.
It's like let's use the sameideology but try and go about it
(02:15):
a little different.
And and gut health is one ofthose topics that I think we can
look at a little differently.
That's they forget sometimesand it's always shifting, so I
think it's moving in thisdirection.
The second brain, basically, iswhat a lot of these people in
the space call it and, to breakit down, even you know simpler,
when people say well, what theheck are you talking about?
(02:36):
Gut health?
Our bodies are covered inbacteria, viruses Other bugs too
, can't think of them but ourbody, from our skin to our oral
microbiome, so it's called themicrobiome, our gut microbiome.
There's concentrations andspots in our body that have very
large amounts, and the gut isone of the ones that has, you
(02:57):
know, the biggest impact on ourbody, so that there's little
bacteria kind of in our stomachrunning the show and telling us
signals.
Justin Gaines (03:04):
Yeah, it's always fun to talk about that and be
reminded of it, just because youdon't want to think about
yourself as being covered inbacteria and bugs and parasites
and all this stuff.
That's weird.
That's what makes the world goaround right Like it takes.
It takes all of these things inorder for it to balance out and
work properly, but we don'twant to think about it because
(03:25):
it sounds like you're dirty,even though it's not necessary.
John Proper (03:29):
I know, I think one of my yeah, one of my classes
in college.
My teacher said I gottaremember, but I think it's five.
My teacher said if you got ridof all the bacteria on your body
in and outside, you'd be fivepounds lighter or something.
Yeah, because there's morebacteria cells than human cells,
I think, on in the human.
(03:51):
So it's, it's an insane amount.
That's wow.
Yeah, that's, that's hard towrap your head around.
I know, because that's why it'slike obviously we're human.
But it's funny because peoplebring up the question well, are
we really, are we human, or arewe because without them we
wouldn't survive?
You know, we need these littleguys and we'll get into why and
what they do and stuff.
Justin, just did a little look.
(04:12):
That's what it was probablywhen I was in class, but they've
updated it.
So I think they said you cancorrect me, but you said it's
that's what they did, say it wasone to 3% of body weight, but
now it's 0.3%.
Justin Gaines (04:26):
Correct.
Yes, used to be one to 3%, nowit's 0.3%, about 0.3%.
John Proper (04:32):
But either way.
So we were looking at that andJustin calculated it for 180
pound individual.
It was still what a half apound of bacteria?
Justin Gaines (04:39):
A little over half a pound of bacteria, which
is still pretty significant.
I mean you talk about bacteria.
I mean that's, that'ssignificant.
John Proper (04:47):
I know, when you talk you can't even see that.
You know what I mean.
So you can't even see them.
And you have a half a pound ofthem.
Justin Gaines (04:54):
Well, I'm just thinking of like you take those
probiotics.
You know active live probioticsand you have those little
tablets.
They're tiny and they weigh,you know, less than a gram.
A gram and you're talking abouthalf a pound.
I mean, that's that'ssignificant, that's that's a lot
.
John Proper (05:14):
Yeah.
So, needless to say, theselittle bacteria, these bugs they
call them, are very importantand it is crazy, crazy to think
about.
And Justin, you actuallybrought up a good thing earlier
too that it kind of gives youlike the he heavies the thing
about, like yeah, you're coveredin that bacteria head to toe.
And I think that's a greatsegue of because what I was
(05:35):
talking about earlier a lot ofpeople in the health space or
functional medicine space reallyreally focus on like the gut is
the controller.
But I've seen more data andkind of newer research showing
that the environment might be abigger control.
So, like, what I mean by thatis, I guess this isn't really
(05:56):
the functional medicine space,but you'll see so many things
pushed for like sterileenvironments Like we live in.
You know really sterile houses.
Antibacterial soap,antibacterial wipes, lice all
kills 99.9% bacteria.
You know all this crazy stuffthat I'll get into it, but you
kind of laugh at that stuff whenI've seen some of this other
(06:18):
research.
In some ways, these other peoplelive like out in nature because
you're doing a real disserviceand a real harm To your body and
the bacteria on your body,because these guys protect you.
Like, don't get me wrong.
You can get an Inbalance ofbacteria.
We want the right balances, theones that help us.
But sometimes thoseantibacterial products actually
(06:40):
kill the good ones and thencreate and it's almost like they
cleared out a house.
Now you have an empty house andthe bad ones can almost come in
easier.
You know so those good ones,you want them there because then
there's less space for the badones to come in.
They can fight off the bad ones.
So it's just funny because,yeah, I think, especially in the
Western world, we're so used tolike bacteria is terrible and I
(07:02):
box, we need them like oh,clean your hands, clean
everything, clean.
Justin Gaines (07:06):
I mean especially marketing messages to get
pushed to sell products.
John Proper (07:09):
Yeah, exactly, and it's.
It sounds great, because whowants to be dirty?
But it's not like these guysare dirty.
But playing in the soil dirtyou know, is actually probably
way better than right, and thatso well it's crazy is like
growing up on a farm.
Justin Gaines (07:22):
We I mean we hardly ever, we being, you know,
fellow farmers or also, justyou know, family members hardly
ever got sick.
But then you'd go to school andyou know people would be going
through their normal cycles oflike hacking off along in the
Middle of the winter and allthis sort of stuff of just you
know, your normal normalsickness windows.
And If I got sick once a yearit was like crazy and like this.
(07:47):
We always used to say it's likeoh, we're outdoors, we're
constantly.
You know, we're constantly outthere doing stuff and you know
when you're working on a farmand you have a burger for lunch,
you know you're not going towash your hands Typically
brushing them off on your pantsand and just eating it.
So you're definitely getting alot more bacteria into your
system by doing that.
(08:07):
It's interesting that now theresearch is coming out and
suggesting that that potentiallyhas a large impact on your,
your body as a whole, not justyour immune system, but your
body as a whole.
John Proper (08:18):
Yeah, yeah, and so I guess so I can get specific
into it.
So there's a one there, oneresearcher, who does got health
and We'll have to go into it alot more in another episode, but
the general you knowinformation about his research
is he followed tribes in Africa,a couple different ones.
He lived with them for monthsand Some of the stuff when you
(08:40):
watch it is insane that likethey're doing, like you know
their food, their dinner tableis the ground.
They wash their hand in thesame water that monkeys pooped
in and they drink from thatwater and you know they're
eating a lot of like what didthey when they freshly kill an
animal?
Some of the stuff was wild, soit's crazy people here, but I
(09:01):
think they'll eat the intestinewhere some of the feces was and
things that obviously I'm notnot saying go do this.
It's, it's insane.
But we would also get sick.
Actually that's an importantthing because we weren't born
into that environment.
We don't have that microbiome.
They have, but they have one ofthe best quote-unquote on paper
(09:21):
microbiomes because of thesheer, sheer variety and amount
of bacteria they come in Contactwith and that's actually what
protects them.
So and something that mightnormally make us sick and that's
why I think it's even crazierto note like you don't want to
eat undercooked raw meat.
(09:43):
24 setter.
You know, if you eat a piece ofundercooked meat by accident,
you should be fine.
But I think that's one of thethings where in today's Western
world, where we don't have a lotof diverse microbiomes, diverse
bacteria, things like oh,undercooked meat once really
hurt us because we don't havethe built-up nice bacteria that
(10:04):
actually protect us from that.
And undercooked meat, just asimple example.
There's a million I'm notpromoting that are talking about
it in any way, but that'ssomething they did and you see
them being protected because oftheir environment, the amount of
animals they come in contactwith.
They actually showed that thedrinking water, I think, was the
area where they picked up themost bacteria because other
(10:24):
animals came to drink from it.
So bacteria from the animalswent in the water and they put
it's like a whole sharingenvironment.
So you only get that by beingoutside.
So I think the newer researchis showing being in nature and
being outside and exposed tomore areas there's actually
what's really causing a muchstronger, more resilient
microbiome than you know some ofsome of what's previously
(10:45):
thought.
We'll go into what's previouslythought too Of, because those
are the easy things to do day today.
Justin Gaines (10:51):
Right right.
John Proper (10:52):
Well.
Justin Gaines (10:52):
I'm sanitizing the counters, constantly wiping
everything down.
John Proper (10:56):
Yeah.
Justin Gaines (10:56):
Yeah, which not to say that you shouldn't do
that, but it's just saying ittoo much of anything is a bad
thing.
John Proper (11:02):
Definitely, definitely.
So that's just a little bit ofwhy I think there's some missing
pieces in the microbiome talkand If you're interested in it,
you can look more into that.
But I think environment, yourlight, plays a bigger role in it
.
Like getting natural sunlight alot more than previously
thought.
But we'll go into like thebasics here too of okay, you
(11:23):
know you're new to this, what's,what's it mean to me?
So, like we talked to pull itinto, like back to the holistic
nutrition piece.
Justin Gaines (11:30):
I mean, I know I kind of briefly brought it up,
but Are you suggesting thattaking a probiotic or a
prebiotic is Better than doingnothing, or should you just be
other foods in your diet thatyou can do that?
I know yogurt typically has avery high ability to populate
that biome.
You know what are some waysthat, because we live in this
(11:51):
hyper sanitized world, that wecan adjust this and start to
bring back that microbiome?
Yeah, yeah great question.
John Proper (11:57):
Great question, starting with probiotics.
So I'm always going to do afood first approach, no matter
what, and we've gone over maybewe haven't, we'll probably do an
episode on this Supplements Ilike to use them as tools, as
supplements, what their nameimplies, but really you should
(12:18):
be getting everything from food.
Now.
Probiotics, though, from theresearch I've seen, are really
one of the last ones I wouldprobably take.
So I would really start withfood first approach.
Just because there's very fewprobiotics on the market that
(12:40):
actually get the probiotics inthe pill to the spot they need
to go.
They either get destroyed inthe stomach acid because they're
not encapsulated in a properpill and they end up kind of
just being an expensive, youknow, waste of money versus
starting with food first.
Or, like we talked about nature.
So going outside, kind ofplaying in the dirt, that's a
(13:00):
good one.
But then foods would be, youknow, anything fermented.
Yogurt is a great one, that'syogurt and kefir.
Those usually are the ones thathave great effects on people,
help build the gut.
Sauerkraut that's just the mostcommon, but really they ferment
any vegetables, any type ofcabbage, carrots.
You can find those in storespretty easy.
(13:22):
Kombucha is another, you knowvery kind of trendy one but that
does have tons of probiotics init.
Fermented tea what else are wethinking here?
I think those are the main onesthat really come from the store
and you know all those aredoing like you said.
You said pro and prebiotics.
(13:44):
The probiotics are really justputting the bugs already in the
food into your stomach, but theprebiotics are like more food
for them.
So starchy foods, they say oneof the best prebiotics and these
can give people problems.
We'll go into that like itgives you bloating.
But if you're in a good state,good prebiotics are like you
cook potatoes, you cool them.
It's kind of a weird thing, butyou cook, cool them and then
(14:05):
reheat them later.
It actually builds resistancestarch in foods.
So that actually gives it moreof a resistance starch is more
food for your bacteria than itis for you.
So when you cool the food, itbuilds it.
I think green bananas have alot to like plantains, but yeah,
those are more prebiotic foodsthat feed the gut bacteria.
Justin Gaines (14:26):
I never want to thought that cooking a food,
cooling it and then reheating itwould have a you know, is that
weird impact on it.
You know, it's like you hearabout food, you cook it and that
could destroy the nutrients.
You don't ever hear about food.
You cook it, cool it and thenreheat it and that actually does
something else to it.
John Proper (14:43):
I know it goes on topic of our last episode, where
we're talking about plantresamble foods, like cooking
spinach and adding othernutrients to it, like it
actually helps them, and it's soweird.
I mean I don't even know howsomeone finds that out of.
They test potatoes right afterthey cook and they test potatoes
cool in the fridge for a week.
But yeah, it builds thoseresistance starch that feeds
(15:03):
your microbiome.
The other thing that'simportant to note is, I think a
lot of functional mess andpractitioners or people in the
space will also just say okay,we have gut problems.
Let's throw in this probioticNow.
The problem there, and I'lleven lump them together.
Let's throw in this probioticpill or foods that have
probiotics in them.
(15:24):
The problem with that?
You can't have good bacteriagrowing in your gut if your gut
is in inflamed, stressful state.
If you throw new beneficialthings at it like probiotics,
probiotic foods, it may help alittle, but if you have bad bugs
in there or viruses or otherthings, it's not going to do a
(15:46):
lot.
It's kind of like using asprinkler if your house is on
fire.
It's going to do something, butyou really need to fix the
environment of your gut beforeyou start introducing these
beneficial foods, and that'skind of where we can get into
things you need to take away orheal.
Justin Gaines (16:01):
I was going to say go down that path.
What?
John Proper (16:04):
does that?
Justin Gaines (16:05):
look like, because I've always thought yeah
, when I've been feeling off,irregular or whatever, I'll take
a probiotic and a probiotic asa typically it's a pro and a
free in the same capsule, sametime.
I'm definitely guilty of beingthat.
You know this as being thatsupplement guy who's more than
happy to take a supplement andtake that easy road out.
(16:27):
But that's interesting.
So you're saying that if you'refeeling that way, you feel like
you have a gut issue, that's notthe most effective way to do it
, so what would be?
What should I be doing instead?
John Proper (16:40):
Yeah, and I'll differentiate two people here
because I'm talking fromexperience of I had a very
inflamed gut where as soon as Iate a meal, like two bites in
very bloated, two serious gutproblems versus someone that may
, like you said, you feel off.
So I think this is helpful forboth people.
(17:01):
But for someone in my situationor anyone feeling extreme gut
discomfort and just to goquickly over that tons of
bloating you shouldn't be superbloated after eating, bloating
after certain foods garlic,onions, vegetables, stomach pain
, irregular bathroom schedule,things like that versus just
(17:21):
someone off.
So this is a lot more importantfor that.
But what it looks like is a lotof things can throw off our gut
we talked about earlier.
I said it's the second brain,first biggest one in my opinion
I think the one that getsprobably overlooked stress.
So the vagus nerve is a nervethat literally connects from
(17:42):
your gut to your brain.
Signals go both ways.
It's not a one-way street.
So if you're stressed in thehead sounds funny to say, but if
you're having mental stress, ittalks to the gut and it creates
inflammation in the gut andthen you may hear this term a
lot leaky gut.
Leaky gut is just when there'slittle micro tears and things
(18:06):
get into your system thatshouldn't.
So I know we're going off on alot of tangents, but just to say
the leaky gut that's just yourgut has a lining.
When you eat food it reallydoesn't actually ever enter your
body.
Technically there's a barrierthat allows certain nutrients in
and keeps other things out.
But when you have leaky gutthere's little tears in it, that
kind of let things in thatshouldn't.
(18:26):
And that's when a lot of peoplehave problems.
So mental stress can do that.
A poor diet, standard Americandiet, a lot of bad junk food, a
lot of sugar, and so what wewant to do to get back on topic
is we want to build a stronger,healthier environment for these
(18:47):
bacteria to live in.
So we want to get rid of junkfood, we want to help our stress
levels, we want to get sunshine, we want to go outside, we want
to get adequate sleep, thenormal things, that kind of cure
everything, because they'rehard to do, but they're not
complicated things, they're justhard to do consistently.
(19:09):
So those things, we want toprioritize those, and then we
really want to cut out foodsthat might be irritating.
So we went over a little bit ofthis last time.
But certain vegetables, ifpeople have SIBO, if they have
other gut issues, whether it'sbacteria or virus or fungal
(19:29):
infections.
We want to cut out foods thatare giving problems.
It's only going to be temporary.
But if you eat onions and theybloat you and you hear well,
onions and garlic, they're thehealthiest food for me in the
world and you keep forcing them.
They're not at the momentbecause they're fermenting in
your gut and causing problems.
So you want to cut out thosefoods.
So be conscious of when you eat.
(19:50):
How does my gut feel?
And then we want to incorporatethings like bone broth.
So bone broth is, I think, thesimplest healer.
That is described to me thatwhen you drink bone broth, the
glycine in it, the amino acid,kind of coats the stomach.
That's what the gut lining ismade out of, so it kind of
(20:11):
repairs it.
And if you drink real bonebroth it's sticky, liquidy, so
that's going to help.
Collagen Digestive bitters arekind of an aid.
So if you acidic things likevinegars, if you eat those with
certain vegetables and foods, so, yeah, what I'm hearing there
is stress management all the wayaround.
Justin Gaines (20:31):
So, mental stress , sleep stress.
Make sure you're on a goodsleep pattern.
Food, you know?
Do an elimination diet, thingsthat are bothering you.
John Proper (20:39):
Don't consume those for now, even if they are
superfood.
Justin Gaines (20:43):
They're really good for you on paper right now.
If they're bothering you, stayaway from them until you can
slowly start to introduce themback in.
But the one thing that I guessI get caught up on is so you say
eliminate junk food.
But like what do you mean bythat?
Do you mean high carb foods?
Do you mean you know bad fats?
Are you talking like emptycalories?
Like what when?
John Proper (21:03):
you say junk food.
Justin Gaines (21:04):
I feel like it's a relative term, right?
So?
There's you know, if you'reconstantly eating McDonald's,
you know some TV dinners mightnot be as junky as constantly
eating McDonald's.
John Proper (21:18):
You're like there's a slagger.
Justin Gaines (21:19):
there's this junk food here, so, like, what
should be pulling at?
Well, what is when you say junkfood, what are you thinking of?
What are you picturing in yourmind, and what should we be
staying away from?
Like, give me three or fourthat like we should just
definitely not be consuming ifwe're trying to refill our gut.
John Proper (21:35):
Yeah, these days I think of junk food as anything
made in a lab which sounds crazybut like if it wasn't made
outside it's junk food.
So but to kind of really narrowit down, number one would be
any packaged really high sugaryfood Like that's going to harm
the gut and that's going to feedbad bacteria.
You know I don't like to sayall sugars bad.
(21:58):
A lot of people do that.
I eat plenty of carbs, but theprocessed sugar that comes from
zebra cakes, fudge brownies,anything in a box out, like if
you want to heal, get rid of it.
Number two would be probablyfoods that cause inflammation.
So, like inflammatory oils, Iwould just try and opt for
(22:19):
better oils.
We know the seed oils areusually what cause problems for
people canola, rapeseed,safflower, all that.
So just make the easy switch toan olive oil.
And actually something that Ireally like to push that helps
me is coconut oil is a great oilif you're having gut problems,
(22:40):
because it's obviously a healthyoil to eat but it has
antibacterial and antiviralproperties.
So it's good to consume thatbecause it helps the gut.
Justin Gaines (22:48):
So that's kind of an easy thing If you're having
gut problems, like, just usethat oil, because it's kind of a
double whammy, and being thatit's antibacterial, that's not
going to kill the good bacteriaor it's not going to work,
because, obviously, when we'vealready talked about how there's
good and bad, doesantibacterial mean anti all
bacteria or does it just somehowwork really well with the good
bacteria and eliminate the bad?
John Proper (23:10):
Right, so we'll have to look into it more by.
Imagine it's the type ofbacteria, just like how sugar
feeds certain bacteria.
Like sugar is known to feed thebad bacteria in your gut.
I imagine the coconut oil isknown to not create a great
environment for those badbacteria Because obviously all
bacteria are different.
(23:31):
There's different strands.
You'll see that in probiotics.
So I imagine that that oilaffects the bacteria.
Justin Gaines (23:37):
It'll probably work similar to like our saliva,
because our saliva isantibacterial as well.
John Proper (23:40):
Right.
Justin Gaines (23:41):
You have that disgusting feeling in your mouth
when you wake up, and that'sbecause you haven't been
producing saliva, becauseotherwise you choke on it.
Obviously, your saliva is notthe bacteria in your stomach
either, so it's got to beantibacterial in that capacity,
but for a sake of time.
One other question to drive ushome, I think, is obviously I
(24:01):
brought up the fact that whenI'm feeling it regular, we've
talked in our personal livesabout we know when we're feeling
it regular.
I've heard that acne on yourback is one of the ways that you
can tell.
John Proper (24:14):
But what are?
Justin Gaines (24:14):
other ways that people can self-identify if
they've never thought about itor haven't gone down this health
pass of like oh, my gutactually doesn't feel well,
because for some people and evenmyself, before I went down
heavily down the health pass, Ididn't realize how bad my gut
felt because that was normal.
So what are some key indicatorsor leading indicators of
(24:38):
improper gut balance and justfeeling?
It off, or how do you know thatyou're off?
John Proper (24:45):
Yeah, yeah, that's a good one because they can be a
little sneakier.
So we'll start with the one youbrought up.
There's like we talked aboutthe microbiome in our gut.
There's a microbiome on ourskin, so our skin's covered in
bacteria.
If we have an imbalance of thewrong bacteria on our skin,
that's going to cause issues andthis can be looked up.
(25:05):
There's like Chinese medicine.
There's charts that show wherebacteria on the body means,
maybe where the problem is inthe body.
Not saying that's foolproof,but it's usually pretty accurate
and you'll see that bacteriausually like on the chin, is
SIBO related, so smallintestinal bacteria, overgrowth
(25:27):
Bacteria.
In other areas will be yeastrelated, so like yeast and
overgrowth or yeast infections.
So that's kind of a cool way tosee if I'm having a lot of acne
.
I don't think you just hit theunlucky lottery, or it's genetic
or it's this.
There's something off that thegut is causing problems.
(25:51):
Your bacteria on your body isnot proper Tons of acne.
That's the first one.
Definitely you can look upagain Chinese medicine acne
diagram.
Justin Gaines (26:02):
I'm going to look that up because I'm thinking of
the acupressure foot massage, aThai foot massage where they
know different pressure pointsin your foot.
I'm thinking they probably have.
Based on what you're saying, itsounds like it's something
similar to that.
John Proper (26:16):
Very, very.
The Chinese medicine is prettyspot on with a lot of things.
It's awesome that's a goodchart to see different spots in
the face, on the back, on thebody, acne being a big one of my
bacteria, my microbiomes.
They're off on my skin and mygut, in my mouth.
It's not usually just off inone spot because everything is
(26:38):
connected.
That being one, then there's alot of sneaky ones.
Like you said, brain fog is abig one.
A lot of people don't realizeI'm feeling cloudy, I'm not able
to focus.
Well.
We talked about the guts of thesecond brain.
If you're eating junk food, ifyou're stressed, if your gut's
inflamed, your brain's going tobe inflamed.
You're going to feel it Brainfog.
(26:58):
Another big thing is if yoursystem's moving really well, if
you're dialed in, your bowelmovement really should be in the
morning time.
Usually your body detoxifies atnight, does a lot of those
things.
You get rid of a lot of that inthe morning.
Now it depends on a lot ofpeople's eating schedule too If
(27:19):
they eat at different times.
If someone eats really onlylate into the night, it might
throw it off If you're eating.
If you're a normal human beingeating three meals a day.
Generally, we can make it evensimpler.
You should be going to thebathroom around the same time
each day.
That's important.
Justin Gaines (27:37):
Consistency, consistency there, those signs,
I think those are the big onesthat I had the back knee, the
brain fog.
The brain fog was a big one.
I've done some stuff I know wetalked about when I did that
diatomaceous earth gut cleansethat I felt like we tried
researching it.
There's hardly any scientificresearch that suggests that it
(28:03):
would work.
It's very small sample sizes.
It's not something that youneed to really hang your hat on.
One I had huge that first day Itook way too much.
In that I remember telling youthat I took way too much.
John Proper (28:20):
I was so bloated, everything that I read that when
I was going into.
Justin Gaines (28:24):
It was that that's diol.
It's not bacterial, it wasviral.
No, it was saying that therewas parasite, parasitic diol,
parasitic diol, increase in thenitrogen in your bloodstream and
all this stuff that would causeyou to bloat like that.
I didn't think it was going towork.
I was like, oh, I can take themaximum amount that they say to
take.
Oh my gosh, I didn't sleep thatfirst night and the second
(28:46):
night into the first week, mybrain fog was completely lifted
Again.
I didn't realize that I evenhad the brain fog.
I thought I was dioled in mostof the time.
Then when it was gone, it wascrazy, absolutely.
John Proper (29:00):
Right, you don't realize how bad you feel until
you feel good.
This whole episode was a superbrief overview because, like you
said, that supplement, there'soil of oregano, there's tons of
herbs We'll go into, I'm sure,in future episodes, exact
protocols and a lot easier waysof like okay, you have this
issue, this is how we can tackleit.
(29:21):
There's actually way more thanI thought we'd have.
We'll have a lot more to gointo, for sure.
Thanks for listening to ourpodcast.
Justin Gaines (29:29):
We hope this helps you on your balance
freedom journey.
John Proper (29:31):
Please share your thoughts in the comments section
below.
Until next time, stay balanced.
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